Cyprus-Forum.com

[Bubble 'n' squeak]

Just one

[Oracle]

In another example from the great litany of Turkish atrocities ...

Refugees from the fire (Smyrna, 1922)

Despite the fact that there were numerous ships from various Allied powers in the harbor of Smyrna, the vast majority of ships, citing "neutrality," did not pick up Greek and Armenian civilians who were forced to flee the fire and Turkish troops. Military bands played loud music to drown out the screams of those who were drowning in the harbor.
There were approximately 400,000 Greek and Armenian refugees from Smyrna and the surrounding area who received Red Cross aid immediately after the destruction of the city.
Other scholars give a different account of the events; they argue that the Turks first forbade foreign ships in the harbor to pick up the survivors, but, then, under pressure especially from Britain, France, and the United States, they allowed the rescuing of all the Christians except males 17 to 45 years old, whom they aimed to deport into the interior, which "was regarded as a short life sentence to slavery under brutal masters, ended by mysterious death".
A Japanese freighter dumped all of its cargo and filled itself to the brink with refugees, taking them to the Greek port of Pireaus and safety.

The captain of the Japanese freighter is surely a forgotten hero .... a brave and humanitarian person.

[repulsewarrior]

truly

[Oracle]

Lysi village in Mesaoria, Famagusta district, CYPRUS. Birth town of the legendary Gregoris Pieris Afxentiou, Anti-lieutenant of the Greek army, and second in command of the Cypriot Liberation Organisation E.O.K.A. that was fighting the British colonial power between 1955-1959, and helped to achieve independence in 1960.

In 1955 the British offered 5,000 English pounds for his capture. Afxentiou died heroically on the 3rd of March 1957, inside his hide-out near Macheras Greek Orthodox monastery on Macheras mountains, fighting against the British colonial Rule of Cyprus. He fought for more than 8 hours, single handed, against a regiment of British paratroopers that surrounded him after he was betrayed. The British, being unable to capture, or subdue him, and in view of mounting losses that they suffered, they threw petrol/gas inside the cave and burned him alive, only succeeding to prove once more that: "...from now on we will not say that Greeks fight like Heroes, but that Heroes fight like the Greeks..."!!!(BBC broadcast during WWII)

Source: Cyprus Directory.

[repulsewarrior]

o' how i remember
my way to merika bay
overthe mountain durell
knew, and the black holes
still scarred those days.

i did not know his name
thank-you, mdme. O
my OP

[denizaksulu]

Lysi village in Mesaoria, Famagusta district, CYPRUS. Birth town of the legendary Gregoris Pieris Afxentiou, Anti-lieutenant of the Greek army, and second in command of the Cypriot Liberation Organisation E.O.K.A. that was fighting the British colonial power between 1955-1959, and helped to achieve independence in 1960.

In 1955 the British offered 5,000 English pounds for his capture. Afxentiou died heroically on the 3rd of March 1957, inside his hide-out near Macheras Greek Orthodox monastery on Macheras mountains, fighting against the British colonial Rule of Cyprus. He fought for more than 8 hours, single handed, against a regiment of British paratroopers that surrounded him after he was betrayed. The British, being unable to capture, or subdue him, and in view of mounting losses that they suffered, they threw petrol/gas inside the cave and burned him alive, only succeeding to prove once more that: "...from now on we will not say that Greeks fight like Heroes, but that Heroes fight like the Greeks..."!!!(BBC broadcast during WWII)

Source: Cyprus Directory.

Oracle, do you have anything on Karaolis. He was executed by the British, around 1955/6 if I am not wrong.
I was living in Kyrenia at the time and what I remembered was the eerie silence and the pealing of the churchbells intermitingly on the day of the execution.

[Oracle]

Oracle, do you have anything on Karaolis. He was executed by the British, around 1955/6 if I am not wrong.
I was living in Kyrenia at the time and what I remembered was the eerie silence and the pealing of the churchbells intermitingly on the day of the execution.

How were you made aware of why the church-bells rang Deniz? That would be interesting if you could recall that "genesis" which upped the stakes for the struggle.

Briefly Michalis Karaolis joined the struggle against the British by blowing up one of their Tax Offices (where he had worked) on a Sunday to avoid casualties.

After going underground as a wanted man, he was caught by some Turkish Cypriot policemen who handed him over to the British.

Symbolic, huh?

Then he became "martyred" as being amongst the first (along with Andreas Dimitriou) to be executed by the British (by hanging) May 10th 1956, which sparked anti-British Sentiment and riots, even in Greece.

The result of that execution is bloody history ... and here is an archived excerpt from Kathimerini which speaks volumes ....

May 11, 1956

EOKA RETALIATES: Nicosia, 11 - The head of the National Cypriot Fighters’ Organization (EOKA), Georgios Grivas, confirmed today the execution of two British corporals. The announcement came in proclamations bearing Grivas’s signature. Today a young Cypriot patriot, aged just 14, was shot dead by the British soldiers of Governor Field Marshal Sir John Harding.

The British authorities, however, deny the report, obviously so as not to anger the British public or terrorize the troops because of the deterioration of the situation due to their own political mistakes. EOKA has announced that it executed the British soldiers in retaliation for yesterday’s hanging of Michail Karaolis and Andreas Dimitriou. Those killed by EOKA were the British corporals Gordon Hill and Ronny Silton. (..)

The proclamation, which opens with the phrase “God Rest Their Souls,” adds: “We do not hate the British soldiers, but we are determined to live in freedom. In order to obtain our freedom, we are forced to use the same means used by the British to take it from us. We will respond in kind for each hanging or torture.”

[denizaksulu]

Oracle, do you have anything on Karaolis. He was executed by the British, around 1955/6 if I am not wrong.
I was living in Kyrenia at the time and what I remembered was the eerie silence and the pealing of the churchbells intermitingly on the day of the execution.

How were you made aware of why the church-bells rang Deniz? That would be interesting if you could recall that "genesis" which upped the stakes for the struggle.

Briefly Michalis Karaolis joined the struggle against the British by blowing up one of their Tax Offices (where he had worked) on a Sunday to avoid casualties.

After going underground as a wanted man, he was caught by some Turkish Cypriot policemen who handed him over to the British.

Symbolic, huh?

Then he became "martyred" as being amongst the first (along with Andreas Dimitriou) to be executed by the British (by hanging) May 10th 1956, which sparked anti-British Sentiment and riots, even in Greece.

The result of that execution is bloody history ... and here is an archived excerpt from Kathimerini which speaks volumes ....

May 11, 1956

EOKA RETALIATES: Nicosia, 11 - The head of the National Cypriot Fighters’ Organization (EOKA), Georgios Grivas, confirmed today the execution of two British corporals. The announcement came in proclamations bearing Grivas’s signature. Today a young Cypriot patriot, aged just 14, was shot dead by the British soldiers of Governor Field Marshal Sir John Harding.

The British authorities, however, deny the report, obviously so as not to anger the British public or terrorize the troops because of the deterioration of the situation due to their own political mistakes. EOKA has announced that it executed the British soldiers in retaliation for yesterday’s hanging of Michail Karaolis and Andreas Dimitriou. Those killed by EOKA were the British corporals Gordon Hill and Ronny Silton. (..)

The proclamation, which opens with the phrase “God Rest Their Souls,” adds: “We do not hate the British soldiers, but we are determined to live in freedom. In order to obtain our freedom, we are forced to use the same means used by the British to take it from us. We will respond in kind for each hanging or torture.”

It was the talk of the town, so to speak. We would always observe the routine clashes between the Soldiers and the GC youth, till the gas canisters began exploding.
Dont keep on blaming TC policemen. They were part of the Legal security forces of the time. So was the majority of Cypriots who worked for the Colonial Administration.